George Saimes of North Canton remembers when his coach at Michigan State University, Hugh “Duffy” Daugherty, promoted his star — on both offense and defense — for the Heisman Trophy 50 years ago.

“It probably was because I went both ways — I was a running back, and I was a rover linebacker,” said Saimes. "I was in the game most of the time. You don’t see that much these days.”

Indeed, Daugherty talked of Saimes’ ever-presence on the field when he spoke to The Repository in December of 1962 about why his player deserved to win the Heisman Trophy — an award that is given annually to the player determined to be the best in college football.

“He runs, he blocks, he tackles, he plays pass defense, he calls defensive signals, he makes key blocks, he’s our bread-and-butter runner, he’s our captain and he gives us leadership,” said Daugherty. “He should go down as one of the finest Michigan State players ever.”

And the coach wasn’t alone in his assessment of Saimes, a graduate of Lincoln High School in Canton who would go on to play several seasons of professional football. Bob Pille of the Detroit Free Press expressed similar sentiments about Saimes’ talent.

“On the field,” Pille wrote after the Michigan State Spartans beat Notre Dame 31-7 at South Bend, Ind., in 1962, “hammering the Irish with the facts of football at present, was the player who should win the trophy this year.

“He was and is George Saimes.”

HONORS COME

Although Saimes was high on the list of Heisman hopefuls that year, he didn’t take home the trophy. Still, plenty of other accolades came his way after the 1962 season. Saimes got invited to play in most of the post-season All-Star games — a number he whittled down to just three.

“I didn’t want to get injured, so I picked the ones I went to,” he explained, recalling that he played in the East-West Shrine Game, the Hula Bowl, and the All-American Bowl.

Among other honors was his status as a consensus All-American for the second year. As a senior captain of the Spartans, he was picked as an All-American fullback by the Associated Press, United Press International, Walter Camp Football Foundation, American Football Coaches Association Football Writers Association of America, and The Sporting News.

GOING PRO

Two of the All-American teams came with perks — television appearances on the Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson shows.

“Before one of the shows, I can’t remember which one, I was told that someone wanted to see me,” said Saimes, who noted that the visitor was Dallas businessman Lamar Hunt, one of the founders of the American Football League, who wanted to convince Saimes to bring his skills to the new league.

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Saimes had been drafted by both the AFL and the National Football league. The Buffalo Bills chose him in the former’s draft, and the Los Angeles Rams picked him in the latter’s.

The player was at a personal appearance in Cleveland, receiving one of the numerous awards that came his way after his senior season, when he was approached by the Rams’ Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch.

“He said, ‘If you sign with the Rams, this is what we’ll give you,” said Saimes, who declined to make the split-second decision.

“He said, ‘If you sign with the Bills, we’ll give you this,” said Saimes. “It was the same amount.

“I told him, if you give me a $5,000 signing bonus, I’ll sign. That’s how I ended up playing for the Bills.”

PRO CAREER

Saimes played well. He played 121 games during mostly as a defensive back. His pro career spanned a decade — from 1963 to 1969 with the Bills, and from 1970 to 1972 with the Denver Broncos after the NFL and AFL had merged.

He played for the Bills when the team was AFL champions in 1964 and 1965. And he was an AFL All-Star in five seasons.

Saimes said the younger league “got very equal” to the NFL “very quickly.”

You’ll never get him to say it, but it could be presumed that Saimes was one of the players who helped that happen.